Chapter I
Introduction
S. No.
Particulars
Page No.
1.1
Introduction
1
1.2
Teaching of English in India
1
1.3
Important purposes in Teaching English
2
1.4
Teaching of English at Secondary Level
3
1.5
Teaching of English at Higher Secondary Level
4
1.6
Teaching of Prose
5
1.7
Teaching of Poetry
7
1.8
Teaching of Drama
9
1.9
Teaching of Supplementary Reader
11
1.10
Discussion and Summarisation
11
1.11
Assignment
11
1.12
Teaching of Novels at College Level
12
1.13
Teaching of English through ICT
13
1.14
Pedagogical gains with the use of ICT
14
1.15
Teaching of Novels using Multimedia
16
1.16
Using of movies to teach about Life
17
1.17
Teaching of Oliver Twist using Multimedia
17
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Introduction
To start with English, with its own long evolutionary history, is progressing as a living
language towards a greater utilisation. It is a flexible language like all other living languages of
the world. As a language, it touches life at almost every point. It describes and stores human
experiences in different walks of life.
1.2 Teaching of English in India
Teaching of English in India is a many-sided problem. The teacher of English who has to
face these problems should be familiar with the nuances and scope of these problems and should
know how best to organise the teaching at various levels, in order to minimise their adverse
effects. Some of the problems have become especially challenging in the context of a complex
Indian situation in which the child must study its mother- tongue, and learn English as well.
Despite researches and investigations done in India and in other countries to discover better
techniques of teaching English, there is nothing to show in the results achieved, that language
teaching lends itself to any easy, simple remedies and it remains a long, hard road for an average
Indian student to traverse.
The first and foremost problem is regarding the goals in teaching English. If the student
community can grasp correctly the meaning conveyed through Standard English, the aim of
teaching English is fulfilled. So, comprehension should be the main objective of teaching
English. But comprehension is never developed in isolation. Expressions in writing, speaking,
and understanding go along with it. In theory, more importance is attached to the ability to
understand written and spoken English,, but in actual practice, other aspects are developed side
by side.
1.3 Important Purposes in Teaching English
The teaching of English in India can have four distinct purposes, each requiring a
different approach and different conditions for its success.
Social purpose: A social objective will aim at making the pupil capable of easy
adjustment with modern social surroundings.
Technical purpose: In almost all branches of modern knowledge, proficiency is
dependent on continuing contacts with sources, which are easily accessible to Indians through
English. This objective should receive the highest priority in higher education.
Administrative purpose: This objective was accepted as the primary aim of University
Education before Independence. Even now this objective is valid as long as it is confined to the
top stream of students with the right bent of mind. They should be well- prepared for the jobs
requiring high degree of proficiency in quick and complete intellectual processes.
Cultural purpose: This aim will enable our intellectuals to establish and maintain contacts
with international current of thoughts enabling the young men and women to make their own
contributions to the universal thinking concerning human thoughts and welfare. This aim is the
most difficult to realise.
There has been an ever- increasing rush for secondary education and on account of this
the classes have become overcrowded. The urge for secondary education has been growing
among the masses bringing more pressure on schools which have shortage of buildings, lack of
funds and paucity of experienced teachers. The increasing number in the class room is bound to
affect teaching of English adversely. Language learning is a skill to be acquired through constant
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drill and continuous practice. The problems regarding the methods of teaching, reading material,
desirable age to begin English and the problem of declining standard are also evident. This
realisation has called for many- sided reforms in the teaching of English. New text- books have
been produced and steps are being taken to reform the evaluation- techniques by laying emphasis
on the teaching of different basic skills in the language. Thus English is trying to regain its
balance by removing the defect in the procedure of teaching.
1.4 Teaching of English at Secondary Level
English is the subject in which teachers and parents are most vitally interested, for it is
not only the groundwork of all the other studies but the foundation of career. In realising the
aims of teaching English in India, there are several initiatives which are common principles
followed by teachers in developing language skills.
In order to realise the aims of teaching English in the secondary stage, the teacher will
have to adopt the following principles.
The teacher will use audiovisual aids to help the pupils to perform the task of
understanding speaking, reading and writing language.
The teacher will ask the students to begin simple conversation in English with him and
gradually he will allow the students to make English conversation between themselves.
The students will be asked to read extracts of prose and poetry, write paragraphs and
write a letter in English
The students will be given opportunities of speaking in English in seminars.
The teacher needs definite detailed direction. The lessons, which present actual methods
of work, are to be guided as a key source of these directions.
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Finally, the teacher will also try to humanise the teaching of language, to raise it above a
mere monotonous study of mechanical details and yet to make it an educative force in the
lives of average boys and girls, and to bring out its character-building power.
1.5 Teaching of English at Higher Secondary Level
English language plays a very important role in Education. In India, we need English to
serve us as a vehicle of knowledge, especially, of Science and Technology. The knowledge of
this language enables a man to read a very large number of Modern Medical Science, Space
Craft, Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Mining, Geography and Agriculture. Without the
knowledge of English, it is no easy task to achieve remarkable success, these days. The learning
of English as a Second Language (ESL), in schools, is far from being satisfactory. The attempts
have been made to improve learning English as a Second Language (ESL).
There are so many factors that affect the teaching -learning process . The students can be
divided into two groups. The first group is having the regional language as medium of study
from the primary level. The second group is having English as the medium of study. Hence the
problem of teaching English starts from the pre-schooling. The teachers need to develop the
tendency of recognising the educational problems in their day to day life and to give general
introduction to the method of study.
The first outcome of the language curriculum is culture. It is the appreciation which
comes from carefully reading and understanding and sharing the best and noblest thoughts of
good and noble persons. Certainly, youths in higher secondary school are made to grow through
contact with selected works of literature, with a cultured teacher as a guide and an interpreter.
The second outcome of the language curriculum is discipline. It comes from consciously
forming habits and performing acts according to a pattern. The rules of language supply the
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pattern. If we force the student to express himself in exact terms, we shall drive him to perceive
objects precisely and to think exact thoughts. Briefly, that is the purpose of the language
discipline in higher secondary school.
Teachers should realise that one of their most effective influences in the formation of the
student is personal contact. Greater reserve, refinement, and distinction of speech at all times on
the part of our own teachers would enhance in the students’ eyes the objectives of a good English
course. Again, teachers in every subject must be seriously concerned with the use of at least
correct written and oral expression in the classroom situation. In a very real sense, every teacher
is an English teacher. In each school, the objectives of the English course should be carefully
worked out, clearly and explicitly stated, and proposed for the conscious aim of teachers and
students.
The objectives of higher secondary school courses are almost the exact counterpart of
what are felt to be the major deficiencies today: firm and accurate knowledge of grammar and
syntactical construction; steady and notable progress throughout the four years in richness and
accuracy of expression, clarity, and firmness in expressing simple judgments in successive
sentences, without jumbling them together; a sense of coordination and subordination; the power
to achieve force in expression by the syntactical structure, not by underlining or other graphic
and artificial means; the definite beginning of artistic appreciation of literature.
1.6 Teaching of Prose
The main aim of teaching of English prose is to increase their knowledge of the language
and to increase their knowledge of the subject-matter or to enrich their intellect.
5
The general aims of teaching prose lessons are:
i)
To enable the pupils to read English passage loudly with correct pronunciation, proper
articulation of voice and with desirable stress;
ii) To enrich their vocabulary;
iii) To help them to comprehend the passage and grasp its substance and meaning
iv) To enable the pupils to get enjoyment through reading;
v) To kindle their imagination;
vi) To enable them to grasp the meaning by silent reading;
vii) To enable them to express orally and in writing, what they have read.
English, being a foreign language, is difficult to teach without proper aids. So only those
material aids which create interest, and help pupils to grasp the meaning should be used. New
knowledge should be imparted in the light of previous knowledge, experience and learning.
Before actual teaching in the class, the teacher should know what the pupils already know, then
he should proceed to utilise their previous learning to create new knowledge. The teacher has to
make special efforts to impart knowledge of new words in English. If wrong meanings are
conveyed in the beginning, it becomes very difficult to change this habit afterwards. English
being a foreign language, pupils easily get tired and feel bored if special efforts are not made to
sustain their interest in the lesson. The success of the teacher at this stage mainly depends upon
two things-motivation and interest. All questions, actions, conversations, demonstrations and use
of illustrative aids should contribute to make the things more meaningful and worthy of
attention.
The teacher is the sole source of learning correct grammar, apt pronunciation, proper
intonation and proper stress in spoken English, the ideal speech which the pupils readily imitate.
6
The technique of comparison and contrast is more effective and should be frequently used in
language teaching. Referring to earlier situations, demonstration of action words, gestures, facial
expressions also help in giving meanings of words. Questions of recapitulations are mostly test
questions and they slightly differ from the questions of comprehension. The teacher can also put
application – questions to judge whether they can use the newly acquired knowledge in their own
way. All the teaching points should be covered in recapitulation and there should not be
repetition of any kind. Blackboard is the most important aid in teaching language. It should be
fully used at the time of exposition of difficult words, in correcting wrong speech habits in
pronunciation or in removing reading difficulties and for giving assignment.
1.7 Teaching of Poetry
Teaching of poetry also needs elaborate planning just like a prose lesson. General aims of
teaching Poetry:
To provide model reading of the poem by the teacher.
To enable the pupils to read a poem loudly with proper intonation and enjoy its rhythmic
beauty.
To enable the pupils to understand and appreciate the poet’s style and imagination.
To enable the students to recite a poem individually and collectively.
To enable the pupils to understand the subtle thoughts conveyed by the poet.
To enable the pupils to enjoy a poem, its poetic beauties and to develop a taste and love
for poetry.
To develop pupils’ imagination and their aesthetic sense.
To identify the figures of speech used in the poem to bring out the aesthetic beauty
inherent in the poem.
7
The specific aim may vary from poem to poem according to the situation, scene, feeling
and thought depicted in the poem. Every poem brings a message from the poet or from Nature. It
should be specifically mentioned before teaching the poem.
According to Thompson and Wyatt, a poetry lesson can be introduced in three ways:
• The best method is to give parallel poem to draw attention of the pupils and to create
suitable atmosphere for the teaching of poetry.
• The second method is to give the gist of the poem to be taught.
• Descriptive poems may be introduced with the help of a suitable pictorial representation.
• Poems on familiar subjects may be introduced with the help of questions, reviving their
past experience and learning.
Coleridge once defined prose as “words in their best order” and poetry as “the best words
in their best order”. As such, poetry is a more powerful form of expression than prose. It appeals
to the whole personality of man appealing to his intellect and emotion. It senses the rhythm and
music, the regular ‘beat’ of word sounds put the mind in such a state that the full message of the
poem is received and felt by the human spirit. So in teaching poetry the teacher is required to
visualise things more clearly. The teacher who fails to visualise the different aspects of the poem
in hand, fails to make his pupils appreciate the poem, hence he fails in teaching poetry. In
teaching poetry, right association of ideas is more important than mere ‘meanings’ of words. For
proper appreciation of the poetic beauty, the teacher must be able to supply the images similar to
those in the poet’s mind. He should be able to feel as the poet feels in those lines, and then only
he can grasp all the aspects of a poem – its central idea, its message, the images it creates, its
music of the rhythm, rhyme and the tone. Poetry is a powerful stimulus to the aesthetic
consciousness, so it should be organised and taught with this end in view.
8
So, poetry should not be taught for the sake of language training, as the study of a prose
passage always gives better training in language than a poem. The teacher who is going to
present a poetry lesson should keep this in his mind and no effort should be made to give training
in language. The steps of presentation of a poetry lesson are quite similar to those of a prose
lesson, but there is a felt difference in teaching. No explanation or exposition is desirable as it
kills the aesthetic enjoyment of the poem.
The art of reading aloud is the best approach to the appreciation of poetry. A teacher must
aim at turning out readers of poetry, not students of poetry.
1.8 Teaching of Drama
Using drama to teach English results in real communication, involving ideas, emotions,
feelings, appropriateness and adaptability The conventional English class hardly gives the
students an opportunity to use language and develop fluency in it. Drama is a unique tool, vital
for language development as it simulates reality and develops self-expression.
Drama is
considered by many students to be important for the development of social and communication
skills and tolerance when working with others. Students can use the conventions of drama as a
means of exploring and discovering what lies beneath the surface of the texts they engage within
the English classroom.
Students can be encouraged to:
explore the issues within the story before meeting the text
enact scenes in the original text
take the roles of characters or ‘voices’ from the text and be questioned about motives and
intentions
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use space and objects (including costume) in a variety of realist and symbolist ways to
represent meanings in the text; to physically represent the psychic or cultural distance
between characters, for instance
create ‘missing’ scenes or moments that are suggested but not fleshed out in the original
text
explore how to use gesture to convey ‘sub-text’; how inner speech can be visibly played
for instance; script, or improvise, alternative scenes or endings
to resort to monoacting to create the desirable atmosphere of a scene or to bring out the
mental makeup of the characters in the play.
extend the story back in time or forward into an imagined future.
add or expand minor characters and their lives and involvement.
demonstrate to each other that there can be a variety of ‘possibles’ when it comes to the
interpretation and representation of meanings (different groups will respond to the same
task in different ways).
Using drama to teach English results in real communication involving ideas, emotions,
feelings, appropriateness and adaptability; in short an opportunity to use language in operation
which is absent in a conventional language class. Such activities add to the teachers' repertoire of
pedagogic strategies giving them a wider option of learner-centred activities to choose from for
classroom teaching, thereby augmenting their efficiency in teaching English.
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1.9 Teaching of Supplementary Reader
In order to develop reading comprehension, vocabulary and extra reading among pupils,
they must be taught supplementary readers apart from the intensive class readers. The following
steps are involved in teaching a supplementary reader. It may be a collection of short stories, a
small novel or a one act play. The teacher must ask some introductory questions or he can give
an introduction to the lesson. The teacher may sometimes ask the pupils to read the content of the
reader at home and can ask afterwards some questions on it.
If there are any unfamiliar and difficult words in the passage or story, the teacher should
give meanings or explain the meaning of those difficult words. The teacher may read the story or
passage aloud or ask one of the pupils to read the reading material aloud and explain the
important facts and events. The students can do silent reading on that particular portion.
The teacher may now ask the questions on the reading material / story given in the
supplementary reader or he may allow some lively discussion on it during the period of
questions. The teacher should encourage the students to give answers in simple English and may
correct their answers when necessary.
1.10
Discussion and summarisation
The students can be asked to reproduce the story or passage briefly in their own words.
They may be asked to express their views orally on the passages which they have read. The
teacher may also help the pupils to draw conclusions or morals and give central ideas or
important facts and events in the passage or story.
1.11
Assignment
The teacher can give home assignments to write about the story they have read and thus
can improve their writing skill.
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The supplementary readers help the pupils in developing extra reading and gives pleasure
in reading. It also increases the spread and comprehension of reading.
1.12
Teaching of Novels at College Level
The use of novel is a very beneficial technique in today’s foreign language teaching
classes. If selected carefully, using a novel makes the students’ reading motivating, interesting
and entertaining. Though many students find reading a novel written in a target language
difficult and boring, not motivating, the novel is a very effective way of building vocabulary and
developing reading comprehension skills. It is through reading that the students broaden their
horizon of knowledge, become familiar with other cultures, and hence develop their intercultural
communicative competence, learning how to view the world from different perspectives. The
result will be the possession of critical thinking and writing.
The use of novel is a useful technique for mastering not only linguistic system but also
life in relation to the target language. In a novel, characters reflect what people really perform in
their daily lives. Novels not only portray but also enlighten human lives.
Using novel in a foreign language class offers the following educational benefits:
Develops the advanced level readers’ knowledge about different cultures and different
groups of people.
Increases students’ motivation to read owing to its being an authentic material.
Offers real life / real life like settings.
Gives students the opportunity to make use of their creativity.
Improves critical thinking faculty.
Paves the way for teaching the target language culture.
Enables students to go beyond what is written and dive into what is meant.
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Stimulates their imagination.
Helps students to identify the emotions of the characters so that they can learn how others
cope with situations and problems similar to their own experiences.
Helps them master the skills that will enable them to acquire information, process this
knowledge, identify problems, formulate alternatives, and arrive at meaningful,
thoughtful, effective decisions and solutions.
Develops oral and written language skills.
Serves as a springboard for a multitude of holistic learning and critical thinking activities.
Presents a unique way of teaching by getting students involved and excited about the
reading process.
Motivates students to become lifelong readers.
In sum, literature provides students with an incomparably rich source of authentic
material over a wide range of registers. If students can gain access to this material by developing
literary competence, then they can effectively internalise the language at a high level. Especially,
for students with verbal / linguistic intelligence, the language teacher’s using literature in a
foreign language class serves the purpose of creating a highly motivating, amusing and lively
lesson. Literature is not only a tool for developing the written and oral skills of the students in
the target language but also is a window opening into the culture of the target language, building
up a cultural competence in students.
1.13
Teaching of English Through ICT
One of the most influential recent changes in higher education is the application of
information communication technologies (ICTs). These rapid changes have not affected all
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societies equally. In other words, the history of the use of modern ICTs in higher education is
quite short but spreading at different rates in different contexts.
Used in a wide sense, ICTs refer to all manifestations of communication technologies
such as computers, videos, and the associated hardware, networks, and software that have the
potentials to be employed for educational and research purposes. They allow teachers and
learners worldwide to work with them in teaching, learning, and research. The use of these
technologies in higher education systems can be strongly affected by social contexts,
appreciations of usefulness, and a combination of factors that may promote or limit their use.
The potential benefits of ICTs in higher education cannot be limited to teaching and
learning. They can be very valuable resources for research conducted by teachers and students in
institutions of higher education. Tools such as emails, wikis, and blogs, databases, analysis
software, and many other forms of ICTs can be employed in all stages of the research process
from choosing the research topic to collection of data, to data analysis, to summarise the
findings, and to drawing practical implications from the discussion of results. ICTs can,
therefore, help the teachers in both instruction and research.
1.14
Pedagogical Gains With the Use of ICT
Searching for information on the Internet, chatting and game playing are obvious parts of
the lives of many young people in the twenty first century. The opportunities that digital media
provide today's language teachers with are enormous. Never before has it been so simple to bring
the world into the classroom and have students use authentic materials and participate in real
communicative contexts. Many teachers, however, are still afraid of bringing computers and the
Internet into the classroom.
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There are several pedagogical gains to be made with the use of ICT which are:
the possibility to connect the teaching of English to reality, that is to “bring the world in
to the classroom”, by, for instance, using authentic texts, reading or listening to current
news and creating opportunities for “real” communication
the possibility to offer more variation in one's teaching compared to only or mainly using
a textbook and workbook
the possibility to offer a form of teaching which is more adapted to individual students'
interests, learning styles and abilities
The conclusion is that the use of ICTs as weapons against ignorance may be limited not
only because of individual human failures but also because of socio-cultural influences. Making
sure that there are enough qualified teachers who can operate computers and use ICTs in their
learning and teaching is a very important part of today’s educational reform and development.
Training for these purposes is so important and vital in education that some researchers claim if
insufficient effort is put into training teachers to use technology and to use it imaginatively then
it is probably better to dispense with technology altogether. If ICTs are now powerful and if they
are becoming even more and more powerful, they will not probably win the battle against
ignorance in higher education when there is human failure and a lack of investment in training
teachers who use ICTs in developing countries. Technology can reduce social stratification or
enhance equal research and educational opportunities for men and women. All these may, of
course, depend also on how willing human sources in positions of power are to implement
changes for the better use of ICTs.
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1.15
Teaching of Novels Using Multimedia
The multimedia encompasses delivering a novel, in this case, through this multiple media
of text, video, sound, power points, animation, graphics and so on. These multimedia
components in a stand-alone mode, with a judicious combination, can be adopted for effectively
teaching an English novel to students. This assumes greater significance when it is used for the
benefit of the students hailing from rural background and hence this research assumes a greater
significance in teaching English novels to the identified target group with a focus on a specific
novel Oliver Twist.
Literature teachers can use popular films as a means to show students that the popular
movies they love and the books they so often avoid have much in common. If teachers were to
ask students if they would rather watch a film or read a book, most of them unfortunately, would
probably respond, “watch a film.”
Using popular films to teach students about literary concepts is an effective way to help
students make connections between the book whose themes and concepts may seem foreign to
them and the movies that they may already admire.
Films are narratives, but students may not see popular movies as anything other than
simple entertainment. However, by teaching students to “read” and compare movies, literature
teachers can show students their favourite movies have some of the same literary qualities as the
books they read. And by drawing this comparison between books and film, students will grow in
their appreciation of both the media.
Films can provide far more than just entertainment. These days it can be a deeply
engaging way to learn everything from character education to science. With the diversity of
16
accessible multimedia content available online and off, there are more ways than ever to use film
for educational purpose.
From engaging story telling that makes history pertinent and meaningful to illustrating
complex scientific principles with detailed animations and contextual explanations, movies can
give students more insight and understanding than lecture or textbooks alone.
Movies and films also provide an alternative way to teach children with learning
disabilities or other problems, and to teach English as a second language (or other language). The
key to using movies for education is the quality of discussion and activity that follows film
viewing. Television, of course, is the most accessible of educational film resources.
1.16
Using Movies to Teach About Life
Movies can also be used to teach specific aspects of life and living, and to provide
character education. Movies related to topics like sportsmanship, friendship, courage, respect or
honesty are readily available.
1.17
Teaching of Oliver Twist Using Multimedia
Literature is a part of life and can be judged only in its relevance to life. Life is not static
but moving and changing. One has to see both literature and themselves in history, not as
abstract entities. Criticism is aesthetics in motion. Art is life-communicating; it must give us a
sense that what is being conveyed across to us by the words on the page is life or, at any rate, has
something of the quality of life. A good novel does not simply convey life; it says something
about life. It reveals some kind of pattern in life. It brings significance. It must be emphasised
that the two elements – life and pattern are not separate. As far as life and pattern and its
representation is concerned, Charles Dickens can be considered as a representative novelist of
the Victorian Age.
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Dickens’ novels reflect a vivid picture of the life of the poor in London of his day.
Dickens was well-conversant with the sorrows and suffering of the children of his age, who were
made to work for as many as thirteen hours a day. In his novels, he toiled to awaken the
slumbering conscience of an age which was insensible and insensitive to the ill-treatment of its
poorer children. His humour and pathos reveal the various social ills and evils of the day.
Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist, also known as The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by the
English author Charles Dickens in 1838. The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist, who endures
a miserable existence in England. Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens' unromantic portrayal of
criminals and their sordid lives. The book exposed the cruel treatment of many a waif-child in
London.
An early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention to various
contemporary evils, including the Poor Law, child labour, the recruitment of children as
criminals, and the presence of 'street children'. Dickens mocks at the hypocrisies of his time by
surrounding the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour.
Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous film and television adaptations, and is the
basis for a highly successful musical play Oliver!
This novel was adapted into a feature film version by the director, Roman Polanski, in
2005. In it, the nature of a child’s mind is delineated clearly. The craving for pure and unselfish
love and the longing for a sympathetic look are beautifully portrayed in the movie. The
researcher experimented a teaching method using multimedia. The researcher had taught the
novel to the respondents using the film version and was successful in bringing out a positive
result.
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The purpose of this thesis is to exploit the advantages arising out of the application of
multimedia to the tasks of teaching in a classroom situation in general and make a detailed
analysis of how Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist can be theatrically demonstrated to drive
home to the First year M.A. English Literature students not only the thrillingly delightful story of
Oliver Twist but also Dickens’ social criticism.
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